Thompson on Hollywood

Film in the Decade Since 9/11: From Superheroes to Westerns, What Came After

This week's “Now and Then” column started out comparing and contrasting two movies about assassins — Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011) and Léon: the Professional (Luc Besson, 1994)—and ended up ruminating on 9/11. Trailers below:Life and culture are too messy to be divided into easy categories like “Before” and “After,” but for all the continuities in the way films are made and viewed, a long view of the last decade reveals some important, if subtle, shifts. Watching the network news coverage of September 11 to prepare for this column, I was reminded of how much we didn’t know that day, how much our fear stemmed from no longer being able to control the course of events.

By Matt Brennan
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September 12, 2011 11:36 AM
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Oscar Watch: Best-Reviewed Movie Charts

Every year, UK statistician Andrew Sidhom keeps running charts of the best-reviewed movies of the year (one for US/UK productions and one for foreign productions), using Rotten Tomatoes' average rating. He also tracks current box office totals and theater counts. Over the past few years, the results closely matched the films that ended up being nominated for end-of-year awards and Oscars in the best picture category, provided that they were box office winners that were not in such Academy-unfriendly genres as sci fi, animation, horror, or sequels. The 2010 chart is pretty impressive: it's led by The Social Network, Toy Story 3, The King's Speech, True Grit and Black Swan.

By Anne Thompson
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August 24, 2011 12:42 PM
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide; Joins Top Nine Grossers

Since it opened 17 days ago, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 has been breaking box office records, but remember--the series finale had a 3-D boost. Anthony D'Alessandro does the global numbers:In just 17 days, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 flew past the $1-billion mark at the global box office, making it the highest grossing chapter in the franchise as well as the ninth film ever to cross this benchmark (top nine grossers list is below).

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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July 31, 2011 9:32 AM
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Harry Potter Finale Records Boosted by Online Pre-Sales

While 3D boosted Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 weekend's record box office performance, so did online pre-sales, reports Anthony D'Alessandro:Another big winner surfacing from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’s $168.6 million weekend: Online movie ticket providers Fandango and MovieTickets.com. Pre-sales for the franchise finale figuratively crashed both sites as each reaped company highs: Fandango generated 19% of Deathly Hallows: Part 2’s opening weekend ($32 million) while MovieTickets saw its highest pre-sale in its 11-year history, selling twice the amount of any movie this year. Even more telling about the future of movie-ticket sales: 20% of Fandango’s summer revenue to date has been derived from mobile devices (from iPads to Androids). Downloads for the company’s ticketing app currently number more than 18 million. Fandango services 60% of all U.S. screens wired for pre-sales.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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July 18, 2011 4:16 AM
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Winding Down Harry Potter's Visual Effects

One of the mysteries of the Harry Potter series is how much Hollywood--and the Academy--have underappreciated the high-level craftsmanship on display throughout. Immersed in Movies' Bill Desowitz looks at the impact the end of the series will have on its visual effects artists.There's more at stake than the most successful film franchise in history coming to a halt with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. There's also a cottage visual effects industry in London that now has to get weaned off the wizard of Hogwarts.

By Bill Desowitz
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July 18, 2011 2:07 AM
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Weekend Box Office: Harry Potter 8 Beats The Dark Knight's Opening Weekend Record UPDATED

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 smashed opening weekend records as moviegoers flocked to the ultimate event movie, the last in Warner Bros.' beloved eight-film series based on J.K. Rowling's global literary phenomenon. (See Richard Corliss's fine summation in Time.) Anthony D'Alessandro reports.No woe in the world -- neither national debt nor the closure of the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles -- crimped U.S. moviegoers from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 this weekend as they made the final film based on J.K. Rowling’s book series the biggest domestic opening of all-time at $168.55 million, ripping the wings off of Dark Knight’s $158.4 million – a record the Christopher Nolan Batman film has held over the past three years.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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July 17, 2011 4:01 AM
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Harry Potter 8's First Day at the Box Office: Will the Weekend Slay Dark Knight's Record?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 charted a record midnight domestic estimate of $43.5 million from 3,800 sites, unseating previous champ The Twilight Saga: Eclipse which had earned $30 million in the slot, reports Anthony D'Alessandro.Bowing abroad on Wednesday in 26 countries, Deathly Hallows: Part 2 collected $43.6 million from 24 countries, Today, stateside, the film unspools in 4,300 venues--70% (or 3,000) of which are 3-D. Of these, 275 are IMAX hubs. While earlier projections saw Deathly Hallows: Part 2 becoming the third-highest weekend opener of all-time, the town is now predicting that the film will kick The Dark Knight's all-time Friday-Sunday record of $158.4 million in the pants.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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July 15, 2011 8:27 AM
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Finale: Media Round-Up

It all ends with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2--or maybe not. J.K. Rowling has hinted that she could bring it back; in the meantime she's releasing ebooks of the series at Pottermore. And fan fiction writers will continue to create their own alternative Potter universe, as detailed in Lev Grossman's must-read Time fan fiction feature. Here's our fearless box office forecast, a rave review, and early review round-up.

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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July 12, 2011 5:32 AM
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: It All Ends at the Box Office

As Warner Bros. brings the blockbuster franchise Harry Potter to an end, our in-house numbers cruncher, Anthony d'Alessandro, looks at what could be some astronomical numbers for the ultimate Harry Potter movie, Deathly Hallows Part 2. This comes as no surprise, but according to studio box office bean counters and early U.S. tracking, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is expected to ring up the best domestic three-day opening of the franchise, out-whizzing the $125-million bow set last November by Part 1.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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July 11, 2011 4:20 AM
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Satisfying and Glorious Finale

From London, critic Matt Mueller reviews Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2: For those who felt that splitting the final book of JK Rowling’s wizard’s-own adventure series into two films was just a cynical ploy to squeeze more cash out of moviegoers, not helped by the hurry-up-already feeling left by Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, all will be forgiven with this immensely satisfying and gloriously nostalgic finale. Deathly Hallows: Part 2 can instantly be counted as one of the finest closing chapters to a franchise in movie history.